"Final Fantasy VI seems to do just about everything right. Itís an epic experience, and truly worth playing."

Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy VI seems to do just about everything right. It's an epic experience, and truly worth playing. If you aren't already rushing out to buy it then read on my friends, read on!

The story is, on the surface, a pretty standard affair of Evil person threatens world, take down evil person. Yet it's handled masterfully. Every scene is told well, everything is crafted intricately and the best bit about the story is the villain Most villains have a reason or motive behind there evilness, but the great thing about Kefka (the villain) is that he is truly maniacal, causing suffering because he wants suffering, stealing hope because he wants to steal hope. He isn't doing all this because he wants riches, power or revenge, and his personality with his over-the-top facial expressions, sarcasm and sudden bursts of laughter help bring the story to life.

GAMEPLAY

The graphics are outstanding. The monsters have loads of detail, with some attacks (particularly the esper attacks) being VERY flashy and stunning. The main world is made a true joy to explore on foot, and when you're in your airship or riding a Chocobo then Mode7 will kick in to provide a gloriously lush and suspiciously exciting experience. Towns look wonderful with just enough detail to make them look lush, without overdoing the detail to the point of being detached. However the best bit about the graphics is probably the least technically impressive bit: the characters.

Each controllable character has over character has over 30 sprites allowing them to laugh, show pain, jump and kneel down because of any injuries they have. This range of acting is very nice, and the simplicity of the sprites allows humour to occur in some of the more laid-back sections of the game (though these are few and far between). However whenever you enter a battle, where you face detailed large enemies, you characters remain tiny little sprites. Not only does this look unique, but it also feel awesome when your tiny little characters take down enemies that are 5 times there height.

The music is legendary and will remain in you mind for a long time after completing the game. There is a HUGE range of music, from the stuff you'll hear every time you win a battle or exit onto the world map, to the stuff that is made specifically for one occasion. The music will remain in your mind for many years as some of it is very memorable, some of it is even touching to the point of making some people water in their eyes. To make things even better, the Game Boy Advance re-release of Final Fantasy VI even has a Music Player available to you after you finish the game that will play EVERY track that appears in the game, even the one time event tracks.

Everything about the design is wonderful. The enemies come in a lot of shapes and sizes and range from the typical to the evil to the sheer amazing. The dungeons also have very good design with a lot of variety in features as well as some interesting (though admittedly very easy) puzzles. To make dungeon design even more interesting, later on in the game there are a few (2 in SNES version, 3 in GBA version) dungeons which you have to send multiple teams into, each of which will take a different route. One team will have to hit a switch or solve a puzzle in order for the other to continue advancing and vice versa. These multi-team dungeons are executed wonderfully and force you to use team members which you normally ignore.

Speaking about team members, there are 14 in all. Each of these (with the exception of Mog, Gogo and Umaro) has an interesting back story which is executed wonderfully and really adds to the experience. These back stories range from fully explained backstories to flashbacks, love interests to family matters. These are characters that you really can, if you let yourself, begin to care about. This is one game that actually gives the player a sense of development for each character as the plot unfolds, and most have a good sense of closure by the time the game draws to its end.

Near the end of the game you suddenly gain access to a lot of hidden dungeons, items and character backgrounds, hardly any of which is necessary to completion of the game. Because of this there will still be quite a bit of stuff to do after you finish the game (people playing the Game Boy Advance game will get the Dragon's Den to complete as well as all the stuff the people playing the SNES game get to complete). However, even with all this extra content the game still has very little replay value because it is SO epic that the second time through won't hold a candle to the first.

Honestly, if you can get hold of this game, then buy it and play it this very instant. It will blow you away with its awesome story, graphics, design and music, whilst its gameplay will make sure you stay addicted.